Doctor, 26, is knocked off scooter and killed a mile from his hospital

Wednesday 13 October 2010 11:09 BST

"Dedicated": Ian Noble and his partner Annabel Scott. The couple had spoken of marriage and had planned to spend the rest of their lives together

A brilliant young doctor has been killed in a road accident near the hospital where he worked.

Ian Noble, 26, was knocked off his scooter in a collision with a car a mile from King's College Hospital in Camberwell last Thursday.

Paramedics took him to the hospital but he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Colleagues joined Dr Noble's family today in paying tribute to a "talented" and "dedicated" medic whose boyhood ambition was to enter medicine and help others.

His mother, Joan Noble, said: "Ian's grandfather was a doctor. From the age of 11 he decided he wanted to become a doctor as well. Ian understood that you not only have to be clever, but need to have the right character and temperament.

"He looked after his 99-year-old granny with such patience that you could see he had those qualities.

"He was committed to helping other people and travelled to Nepal and Uganda as part of his training. Ian was also very politically aware and principled.

"On the night before his interview at King's he slept in a tent outdoors in Edinburgh to protest against accommodation cuts for medical students."

Mrs Noble, from Kensington, who runs a European agricultural consultancy and her barrister husband, Roderick, learned off their son's death while on a sailing holiday in Croatia.

Their son Jamie, who works as a banker in Kuala Lumpur, flew home to support his family.

Eton-educated Dr Noble was in his second foundation year and on the British Medical Association's board of directors. He trained at Sheffield University where he met his partner Dr Annabel Scott.

Mrs Noble told how the couple had spoken of marriage and were planning to spend the rest of their lives together.

"It is such a devastating loss for all of us. Ian was extremely popular and had so much more to give. He loved to travel and was passionate about sports. One day he wanted to become a politician as well as a doctor," she said.

Dr Noble was a Fulham supporter, a member of the Marylebone Cricket Club and a keen squash player. His family intend to establish a bursary in his name to help future medical students.

BMA Council Chairman, Hamish Meldrum, said: "Ian was such a bright, intelligent, engaging young man, with a maturity and wisdom beyond his years. He had already given a lot, but had so much more to offer."

A 31-year-old man was arrested at the scene of the collision on suspicion of dangerous driving. He has been bailed to return in January next year.